Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote - Michigan

APIAVote-Michigan is a nonpartisan organization committed to justice and equity for the Asian American community through grassroots mobilization, civic engagement, leadership development, and coalition building.

We uphold a vision of justice and equity that asserts people power and community connectedness as the framework for democracy, decision-making, community engagement, and service.  This vision is realized through an informed, socially conscious Asian American community, unified behind the urgency for greater representation and greater power to uphold the values of our community.

Stop Asian Hate

When discriminatory and violent behavior toward Asian Americans began to spike, we quickly pivoted to focus on strategies to meet the immediate needs of our community.

• APIA Vote-MI organized three large and highly successful rallies in different Michigan communities to raise public awareness of the attacks, and to provide a platform for our community leaders and members to speak out against the race-based attacks. The added benefit was that it provided a welcoming space for many non-Asian allies to stand in solidarity with fellow Americans. We will follow up to leverage the new connections.

• We are hosting another peaceful rally in Ann Arbor, in collaboration with young APIA members who wish to add their voice to the conversation. We are revising our format to allow students to gather at a forum, to speak their truth, and explore strategies to combat the racial hatred that has become so visible in our country

• APIA Vote-MI has launched a series of podcasts, Unfiltered Identi-Tea, focusing on the message, rather than the identities of the guests or hosts. We facilitate intimate conversations, raw, real, and honest, giving a platform for those often are not heard.

• In May we are a hosting a virtual legislative meeting with Michigan legislators to address specific concerns in the APIA community. We believe that as the US re-examines its treatment of BIPOC communities, Michigan should intentionally address its approach towards all minorities.

We will be asking our legislators to discuss and initiate related reforms (i.e. mandatory bias training for Michigan Police Department) and issue public statements of support for the BIPOC community and their demands.

• We will encourage a comprehensive framework for reporting and tracking COVID-19 related discrimination and crimes against Asian Pacific Islanders Americans (APIA) people and a mechanism to refer incidents to the hate crimes unit of the Attorney General’s office.

APIA Vote-MI has identified specific goals during our current strategic planning process. With adequate resources, we are prepared to move quickly on the following:

• Prepare and implement a comprehensive survey of several thousand APIA’s who are

registered voters in Michigan to collect community sourced information on needs.

• From the survey, identify detailed information about barriers faced by APIA students, both K-12 and College level.

• Obtain similar information from unemployed and underemployed workers.

• Analysis will inform next steps and assist in finalizing the strategic plan for the next 3 years. This plan will include best practices to increase APIA content in schools, and to advocate for more support for APIA college students and low-income workers

• APIA Vote-MI plans to increase staff to better respond to its community needs, including

additional language and translation services, direct engagement, graphic design and social media. We currently provide translation on an ad hoc basis for non-English speaking community members.

APIA Vote-MI has a track record of identifying specific issues that the APIA community faces, and then creating and implementing solutions. We also provide our community members a platform to speak about their experiences on racism, sexualization, substance abuse, voting

issues and more.